Phoenix Global Resources (PGR) is one of the newest oil companies in Dead Cow. This is a firm that entered the shale formation in the midst of the pandemic and is now doubling down with a investment plan of more than 800 million dollars for the next two years with those who seek get on the podium of the main oil producers of the country’s star formation.
In an interview in exclusively with Energía On, the CEO of Phoenix Global Resouces, Pablo Bizzotto, He told what the work plan is like for the operator that has the colossal Swiss group Mercuria behind it, but in which they recently added a significant partner: the Colombian firm GeoPark.
A few weeks after putting the first three Río Negro shale wells into production, Bizzotto said that the PGR work team has been able to identify a sweet point, the right point for the Vaca Muerta wells that he explained “allows differences in productivity of up to 30% with very few meters of difference within the vertical of the landing, which is La Cocina.
This is why he marked that «Now the big challenge is scale.start growing in scale. And this is why he explained that “already We are closing the tender to have another drilling rig that would start next year and we are also bidding for a new treatment plant “which will allow us to have a processing capacity of 40,000 barrels per day.”
Bizzotto assured that he already has a investment plan approved to inject more than 800 million dollars for the next two years. «Next year we will be investing 370 million dollars and in 2026 we will invest another 470 million dollars with the second rig. (driller) in activity, and with that we would be exceeding 40,000 barrels per day.
Bizzotto detailed Phoenix’s plans to be one of the major producers of Vaca Muerta oil. (Photo: Cecilia Maletti)
Currently, the operator has a production of nearly 13,000 barrels per day in its flagship Vaca Muerta block, Mata Mora Northbut has just added another 4,500 barrels to the account with the first wells in Río Negro, in the block North Confluence.
The objective of the firm is to more than double its current size in just two years, in order to join the select group of large oil producers in the shale formation that today includes only two firms (YPF and Vista) with a level of extractions above the 40,000 barrels per day.
«If we have a little wind in our favor with some conditions in Argentina, mainly with the stocks exchange, I believe that our shareholders would not have any type of limitation to increase investment. and we could function quietly with tres or four rigs simultaneouslyto reach a production plateau of between 70 and 80,000 barrels of oil per day by 2027″considered the CEO of PGR.
Bizzotto remarked that “today the only limitation that remains is the stocks, so I believe that both Phoenix and our partner GeoParkswe could go at a higher development speed.
Plans in sight: more areas and LNG
Bizzotto said that «We are evaluating different types of projects, in oil, but also since Mercuria is very strong in the LNG market, we are trying to open the door to it. to evaluate potential businesses in Argentina, see if they can participate in the investment or as an offtaker and why not the possibility of acquiring some participation in a gas asset to vertically integrate everything.
In that sense, the CEO of PGR noted that «our shareholder is very optimistic about the situation in Argentina “I believe that in the last year the image abroad has improved and that makes shareholders go from looking at Brazil to looking at Argentina with much more affection.”
An analysis in which it was considered that the country has three competitive advantages. On the one hand, it has world-class resources like Vaca Muerta, but also like those in mining. Secondly, he stressed that the quality of Argentine professionals is highlighted, a point that seeks to be redoubled with the agreement signed between Río Negro and the Institute of Oil and Gas (IAPG) so that graduates of the technical level have the necessary knowledge to enter the industry.
While the third point that Bizzotto highlighted as an advantage for Argentina is the country’s location in a zone free of war conflictssomething that cannot be said of many hydrocarbon-producing countries.
